Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Pearson Field is a historic general-aviation airfield on the northern bank of the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, immediately across from Portland International Airport. Reputed to be one of the two oldest continuously operating airfields in the United States, it offers visiting VFR pilots a single, well-equipped runway close to the heart of the city, set within the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
Pearson Field is a city-owned, public-use general aviation airport in Vancouver, Washington, one mile southeast of the city's central business district. It sits within the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, immediately east of the reconstructed fort, and is best known as one of the oldest continuously operating airfields in the United States, having received recognition in 2012 as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics historic aerospace site. For a sim pilot, its appeal lies as much in its layered aviation history as in its position squeezed between the Columbia River and the approach path to Portland International Airport just across the water.
Pearson Field lies on the north bank of the Columbia River, adjacent to Washington State Route 14, directly across the river from Portland International Airport in Oregon. The single runway is located directly beneath the final approach path to Portland International's runway 10L, so traffic in the vicinity must be flown with particular awareness of Portland's arrival and departure streams. Portland Approach and Departure frequencies are used in this area, and pilots inbound to Pearson should expect to coordinate with Portland's terminal airspace given the close proximity of the two fields across the river.
Pearson Field has a single physical runway, 08/26, of hard surface construction and lit for night operations. The database records a length of 3270 ft for runway 08, which is equipped with an ILS, and 2510 ft for runway 26. Field elevation is 23 ft.
Pearson Field uses UNICOM as its CTAF, on 123 MHz. A VFR advisory service is available on 119 MHz. Portland Approach can be reached on 118.1 MHz and Portland Departure on 124.35 MHz, while Seattle Radio operates on 122.35 MHz. The field ASOS broadcasts on 135.125 MHz, and a further frequency of 121.65 MHz is listed. An ILS serves runway 08, giving an instrument approach option in addition to the standard VFR pattern.
The airfield lies close to the Columbia River and Washington State Route 14, both prominent linear features for a pilot to track when approaching from east or west. Portland International Airport, directly across the river to the south, is a major visual reference given the runway's position beneath its final approach corridor. The reconstructed Fort Vancouver, immediately to the field's west within the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, is another readily identifiable landmark near the airfield boundary.
Pearson Field's aviation story begins in 1905, when Lincoln Beachey piloted a Baldwin airship from the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland to the Vancouver Barracks parade grounds, a flight of about eight miles that is recognised as the first aerial crossing of the Columbia River and the first delivery of a letter by airship. The first airplane landed at the field in 1911, and a homebuilt aircraft constructed on site made the first aircraft departure in 1912. From 1923 to 1941 the field was home to the US Army Air Service, and in 1923 Lieutenant Oakley G. Kelly, commanding the 321st Observation Squadron, made the first non-stop transcontinental flight; the following year Pearson served as a stopover on the Army's first round-the-world flight. The field was named in 1925, by order of Major General John L. Hines, after Lieutenant Alexander Pearson Jr., a Vancouver-born Army aviator killed in a flying accident in 1924; its inauguration that September drew 20,000 spectators and 53 competitor pilots, with Edith Foltz winning a dead-stick landing competition. Kelly was also instrumental in establishing an adjacent civilian field in 1925, which was later joined with the military field to form what became known as Pearson Airpark, and which for a time hosted an early West Coast airmail stop. In 1937 the Soviet aviator Valery Chkalov landed here at the end of the first non-stop transpolar flight, an event commemorated by a monument dedicated in 1975. The field has drawn many leading aviators over the decades, including Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Eddie Rickenbacker and T. Claude Ryan. In 1994 the City of Vancouver and the National Park Service entered into an agreement governing the airfield's future, and in 2005 Pearson marked its centenary. The AIAA's historic aerospace site designation followed in 2012, with a further monument placed in 2015.
Pearson Field remains an active general aviation airport, recording tens of thousands of aircraft operations annually, almost entirely general aviation traffic, with over 150 aircraft based on the field including single and multi-engine types, helicopters and a glider. Facilities include some 150 T-hangars and tiedown space for around 175 light aircraft. Aero Maintenance Flight Center operates on the field as a full-service FBO, offering maintenance, avionics work, and Part 61 and Part 141 flight training, along with scenic flights over the Columbia River Gorge and the Cascade volcanoes. The adjacent Pearson Air Museum and Pearson Field Education Center provide aviation history and STEM education, reflecting the airfield's continuing role as a living link to the early days of Pacific Northwest flying.